Cast Hunting bullets

[450]

Hello,

First
I’m new to Cast Boolits and just starting to cast bullets. Is there any particular design cast bullet that works best for hunting? There seems to be endless designs. Thanks

[BLAHUT]

Large, heavy, flat nose, in pure lead.

[Wheelguns 1961]

I like a WFN (wide flat nose). I also like a little heavy for caliber bullets. You will get a thousand different answers, and none will be wrong if they have been used to take game. Hollow points work good if the hp size matches the velocity.

[OFFSHORE]

Agreed with above comments - wide flat nose and heavy for caliber boolits. I shoot a lot of magnum calibers/pressures and an alloy of 50/50 +1 (COWW / soft lead to pewter) in a 30:1 alloy works great for me and I am solely a hunter, but I demand benchrest accuracy. LOTS of trial and error in the cast bullet game, but it is very rewarding. Sit back, fasten your seatbelt, and enjoy the ride!!! Best of luck to you.

[Winger Ed.]

Round nose and flat points are for serious killing.

Shot placement and accuracy is the biggie.
Get that right and any concerns about a few percentage points here or there in alloy mixtures,
or an extra 25 fps more or less will take care of them selves.

[jaysouth]

What calibers and cartridges?

[smoked turkey]

In general a flat point(FP) is the projectile of choice for hunting. The flat point diameter will vary as a percentage of the area of the diameter of the bullet or boolit if we are speaking about cast boolits. The flat nose impacts a game animal with more shocking power than say a round nose boolit would. This is to your advantage in putting the animal down in the most humane manner. One disadvantage would be the FP is not as aerodynamic as a spiral boolit or bullet. So a disadvantage in using a FP would be a shorter range as compared with pointed bullet. It will then depend on your shooting range capability. I am not a long range hunter. Therefore a FP has a lot of advantages for me when hunting. On the other hand if I were a long range shooter whether targets or game I would consider the pointy spiral bullets that are all the rage now for long range shooting. As such I'll just say that a 50/50 lead to wheel weight metal with a flat point serves me very well on the game I hunt and the distances I shoot. I won't go into penetration into a game animal but that will also be a part of your decision on which bullet or boolit to use.

[MarkP]

Since you be hunting, one thing to test is first shot impact point out of a cold barrel. Test clean bbl and fouled bbl. First shots may tend to fall out of a group. (First shot flyer)

[450]

Thanks for the info. Most of my cast bullets will be shot out of my 38-55, 300 Savage and 35 Whelen. Maybe my 308 pistol.

[450]

I will definitely test the cold bore accuracy vs warm/hot bore. Most of the shots were I will be using cast bullets for hunting will probably be under 150 yards.

[pworley1]

Take the time to read Larry Gibson's posts on velocity and accuracy, it will save you a lot of powder lead and time.

[missionary5155]

I agree wit pworley1....
Larry Gibson's posts should be a mandatory read before anyone is allowed to be a member.
Like a "basic training". I was around casting since I was 4 but what I did not know about rifles !

[450]

Thanks and I will try to find his post.

[OFFSHORE]

YES!!! Pay close attention to cold/hot bore, clean/fouled, cold/hot weather conditions. . .a lot of this will apply to your bullet lube (which I am in search of the Holly Grail of lubes), your powder and you alloy of choice - all of which your choice of firearm will tell you. Good luck and let us/me know if you ever find that "One" do all lube.

[lar45]

One lube that does all except black powder is 2500+ or Carnauba Blue. 600-3000fps, pistols, rifles...

[stubshaft]

WFN and LFN bullets for most hunting and Ogival Wadcutters for self defense and hogs under 50 yards.

[centershot]

YES!!! Pay close attention to cold/hot bore, clean/fouled, cold/hot weather conditions. . .a lot of this will apply to your bullet lube (which I am in search of the Holly Grail of lubes), your powder and you alloy of choice - all of which your choice of firearm will tell you. Good luck and let us/me know if you ever find that "One" do all lube.

For me, NRA 50-50 (Javelina) has been the standard for 40 years. Rifle or pistol, from 800 fps up to 1900, it's never failed me, black powder use excluded, of course.

[GLynn41]

All Great advice you can do well as there is much to learn on this site. welcome

[Soundguy]

I also like wide flat noses or round noses where applicable. Keep in mind that your guns tube magazine or feed ramp needs when testing.

[Grayone]

Agree that a FP on a cast will kill quicker than a shaper point on a cast bullet with Lung Shots. If longer range with a sharp pointed bullet consider making a hollow point with something like a Forster case trimmer with hollow point attachment that are available for bullet expansion. Expansion will also depend on bullet alloy. There is a lot to learn on cast bullets and is something that I have always enjoyed learning what works and what doesn't. I have also learned a lot from Mr. Gibson's posts. I would call him a "Cast Bullet Professor"!

[wolfdog]

Find the one your gun likes and you'll be fine. While a flat nose is nice, people have killed things fairly well with muzzle loaders and round balls. So it's not a must. The biggest thing is practice and finding that sweet spot for your specific rifle and the ranges you hunt. After that, it's personal preference.

[450]

Thanks, I almost have everything I need to start casting my own bullets and I’ll try different ones.

[725]

You can see a general preference for flat nosed bullets and there are good reasons for it. A characteristic result from flat nosed bullets are that they tend to act straight within the animal. If you are lining up a shot that enters the body and your intentions are to have it go in a straight line to interrupt the heart / lungs / shoulders / etc., a flat nose will tend to actually follow that imaginary straight line you have planned out. Spitzers fly very well but may glance off internal structures and end up not going exactly as you have planned. Always that exception, variations occur, stuff happens, and so on, but I like the flat points because the tend to track straight.

[wolfdog]

You can see a general preference for flat nosed bullets and there are good reasons for it. A characteristic result from flat nosed bullets are that they tend to act straight within the animal. If you are lining up a shot that enters the body and your intentions are to have it go in a straight line to interrupt the heart / lungs / shoulders / etc., a flat nose will tend to actually follow that imaginary straight line you have planned out. Spitzers fly very well but may glance off internal structures and end up not going exactly as you have planned. Always that exception, variations occur, stuff happens, and so on, but I like the flat points because the tend to track straight.

See, you say that. But I would bet if I put a .54 cal round ball in the same place you think of. The results would be meat. Soft lead deforms. and I'm unconvinced that a round nose cast soft isn't going to work.

[Friends call me Pac]

I hunt with a 30.06 and a 30.30 and use the same bullet in each. It is a NOE 311165rf (165gr) and is easily effective on targets at 200 yards. For hunting I use a 50:50 mix of wheel weight and pure lead. For targets it is usually range scrape mixed with wheel weight. Hunting bullet and target bullet shoot the same but the 50:50 will lead the barrel in less than 10 shots. I lube with Ben's red or powder coat. Never shot at a deer with them further than 100 yards though. 100 yards was longest shot and about 5 yards was closest.

In a nutshell for me hunting with my 30.30 or 30.06 I use a flat nose, med weight, 50:50 mix bullet.

Both of these were taken with the above mentioned bullet this year. They just plain work.

309256

309259

[versa-06]

They appear to work, Without a doubt.